Senior User Researcher
Home Office Digital, Data and Technology -
About the role
You will work either in our Innovation or Product teams, supporting key workstreams of the department's strategic operating model. This a really exciting opportunity to inform the design of products that will be used across the whole organization.
Our Innovation team are exploring the significant impact emerging technology can have for both the citizens who use our services and our employees. The team provides advice on how emerging technology can be applied across the Home Office and partners with a range of teams to develop innovative prototypes.
Our Product team work with closely with stakeholders across the organization and across government to define best practice ways of working and implement influential services to its staff that ensure that the department effectively delivers its priorities.
In either of these teams, your research will inform policy, proposition, service, content and interaction design so that digital services work well for users and achieve their policy intent.
What you'll do
- leading the planning, design and execution of user research and usability testing to understand user needs and behaviours and inform the design and development of government services.
- influencing how decisions are made and constructively challenging ways of thinking at both the team and senior stakeholder level.
- leading other user researchers within a digital delivery team, mentoring and up-skilling researchers and supporting the growth and development of the team.
- taking a user centred, evidence-based approach by turning user research findings into actionable insights that influence service/product development.
- supporting digital delivery teams to build accessible digital services by ensuring that participants with access needs and low digital skills are included in all research.
- sharing insights from research and examples of best practice where they can help other researchers across the Home Office.
- aligning user research activities with wider organisational objectives to provide strategic insights that inform policy and proposition.
Who you are
You’ll have a demonstrable passion for user centred design, with the following skills or strong experience in:
- understanding and applying a range of user research methods correctly for different life cycle phases, and advising others on these methods.
- communicating insights from research in a clear and impactful way that drives change in the design of services and informs policy and proposition.
- establishing an effective user centred design culture in a team, and supporting them to embed user centred design practices into their agile workflow.
- convincing senior stakeholders about the benefits of adopting a user-centred approach, based on evidence.
- establishing and applying ethical research standards and practices to ensure the safeguarding and wellbeing of participants and researchers.
- researching diverse audiences to help teams deliver accessible and inclusive digital services.
Some of the benefits our user researchers love!
- one of the higher starting salaries across the Civil Service
- a Civil Service pension with employer contribution rates of between 26.6% and 30.3%, depending upon salary
- 25 days annual leave on appointment, plus 8 days public holidays and 1 day for the Queen’s Birthday, rising further with service
- flexible working options to enable you to achieve the work life balance that right for you including part-time, flexi time and job sharing
- training and development opportunities tailored to your role
- an in-year bonus scheme
- a culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- season ticket loans and rental deposit loans
- cycle to work and payroll giving
- employee discounts - including a huge number of retailers (via the Edenred platform), Microsoft Home Use programme and gym membership
- a variety of staff recognition schemes including thank you vouchers
- health and wellbeing initiatives including monthly mindfulness sessions
- staff support networks
- maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks full pay followed by 13 weeks of statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid
- maternity and adoption support leave (paternity leave) of 2 weeks full pay
- up to 5 days paid leave for volunteering
- study leave and support for studying for a qualification or other accredited development relevant to your role
